FRAGILITY
Daye Kim
United Kingdom

Sibling relationships exist at the fragile intersection of intimacy and distance. Derived from sib (kinship) and sibja (blood + « one’s own »), « sibling » embodies a paradox: they are extensions of ourselves yet wholly separate. This creates permeable boundaries where love and rivalry, cooperation and competition flow together.
Inspired by rings in « Portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées and Her Sister, » I use 3D modelling to transform this motif into extreme variations of forms that evolve and distort, mirroring sibling dynamics. Two interconnected rings create a single structure, requiring wearers to negotiate proximity and dependence.
Clear resin casting builds translucent layers where emotions accumulate: affection beneath resentment, loyalty alongside jealousy. Airbrushed colour penetrates transparent surfaces, revealing how feelings stain relationships. The material’s fragility (vulnerability to scratches and yellowing) embodies these precarious bonds.
When worn, the jewellery enforces closeness while revealing constraint. Wearers synchronise movement, acknowledge dependence. The piece becomes a lived diagram: connections that sustain yet restrict, boundaries that protect yet isolate.

Brooch « This relationship is », 2025
37.27 x 37.08 x 42.44 (W x H x D) mm / 5.5 gr
Sterling silver, Clear crystal glass resin
3D programming, airbrush colouring, and silversmithing.

More « FRAGILITY »

Fragility – Patricia Gallucci / Argentina

FRAGILITYPatricia GallucciArgentinaHow do we move forward; how do we leave fear, memories, untold, everyday anxieties, if we are made out of them, if we keep them under our skin, if they are also part of today? When body and mind are one. Light is darkness Dream,...

Fragility – Cindy Zhaohan Li / UK

FRAGILITYCindy Zhaohan-LiUnited KingdomGrowth Ribbon reflects on fragility as a generative state, where pain, transformation, and renewal coexist in the human body. I programmed the Tibetan Auspicious Ribbon Patterns into digital algorithms, transforming their...

Fragility – Denis Music / Ukraine

FRAGILITYDenis MusicUkraineFragility is a state of tension — between strength and collapse, between freedom and threat, between life and its disappearance. My brooch Black Cloud was inspired by the installation of Ukrainian artist Oleksiy Sai, which rose above the...

Fragility – Into Niilo / Belgium

FRAGILITYInto NiiloBelgiumThis work consists of a pair of interlocking knuckledusters that form a single solid object when pressed together. When separated, the phrase I wanna choose love | instead of fear becomes legible. The object is a 3D-printed steel puzzle...

Fragility – Rikke Lunnemann / Denmark

FRAGILITYRikke LunnemannDenmarkHow Much Care Do You Need Today? A five-meter-long bandage gilded with 24ct gold leaf. You can cut into it – a small piece if you need a little, a larger one if the day hurts. It is jewellery, but it refuses to be just jewellery. It...

Fragility – Sayaka Ito / Japan

FRAGILITYSayaka ItoJapanFragility is the beauty of existing things and lives. Fragile, therefore, there is strength, there is care. All our souls are fragile; thus, we unite, we love. May acceptance of fragility in our lives bring better things to our world.Brooch...

Fragility – Ani Flys / Spain

FRAGILITYAni FlysSpainThe "Whirlwinds" series traces fragility as both a material and a state of mind. Using broken eggshells, the work explores how what is delicate and easily fractured can, when gathered, form unexpected strength and coherence. Each fragment, once...

Fragility – Noy Alon / Israel

FRAGILITYNoy AlonIsraelA brooch built from ready-made pins soldered together, covered in polymer and transformed into something unexpectedly delicate. Systematically eroded, the piece reveals a paradox: structural strength that appears light and fragile. The erosion...

Fragility – Babette von Dohnanyi / Germany

FRAGILITYBabette von DohnanyiGermanyThis piece talks about our identity, how fragile we are, our look in our individual face, our acceptance about ourselves. The research of ourselves all way deep but also never secure.Brooch "hello", 20237x7x2,5cm mm / 250,00 grAG...

Fragility – Anna Liu / USA

FRAGILITYAnna LiuUnited StatesIn a small city in Sichuan, China, nestled on the edge of the basin and surrounded by mountains, life unfolded among steep stairs and winding streets. The place once seemed ordinary, yet mornings filled with mist and distant peaks shaped...